It’s being called snowmageddon – and for good reason. Snow and ice are wreaking havoc all across the United States with record wind chills and more precipitation than Siberia on a bad day. If your commute is taking three times as long as it usually does, go ahead and blame the archaic highway system.
That’s right. In the 1950s, the idea of paving America with black asphalt seemed like a good idea. Now, 60 years later, we’re still using it -- and still sliding all over the road.
But what if the road itself could change?
That’s the dream for Scott Brusaw, who has a novel idea for dealing with snowy roads: replace them with a glass surface embedded with solar cells that generate power form the sun and store it in batteries for use at night. In his view, such a proliferation of solar cells could also help solve our ongoing dependence on fossil fuels, because they could feed excess electric power into the grid. He has even developed illuminated lane markings that change according to current road conditions.
His company, Solar Roadways is waiting for approval on a new $750,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that will help him build a large-scale prototype to test new materials and electronics, and hopefully prove that his invention works.
GO HERE to read more.
6 comments:
I like it. There will have to be more tweaks but I have driven on roads with led lights on them. I loved the light and lane markings at night.
They would be especially helpful on hills and downgrades in winter conditions. Keeping snow and ice from accumulating.
Keep trying guys.
Um, hello? knock knock, are you there? mentally?
Why would you even consider driving on GLASS? or a form of GLASS? glass has less traction than asphalt... even if you groove it or make it a rough surface... Not to mention, the excess heat on your tires might be a problem to... a little more wear n tear perhaps?
The concept is good, but the application is bad...
Also, you can put your power using LED's in any road surface, why glass? because it is more conductive than asphalt? What about during lighting storms? are there going to be groundings every 10,000 feet along the road?
Obviously you didn't read/comphrehend the article.
The rest of your statement doesn't even deserve a response. Complete waste of time.
If this idea has any merit, then let him seek out private investors for capital.
Why does he need gov't assistance for this?
We the taxpayers don't need to be providing any "grants" for such projects.
While the Federal government gives out more than $150 billion in grants each year, in many cases, the money is distributed to individual states, which then redistribute the funds to businesses and programs, which will in some way benefit the public. Seeking a government grant requires a lot of time with no guarantee that the organization or individual applying will receive the grant. If grant monies are awarded, all grant funds must be spent exactly as described in the grant application
Read more: How Does the Government Give Out Grants? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4598180_government-give-out-grants.html#ixzz1CxWCzzdC
http://www.grants.gov/aboutgrants/about_grants_gov.jsp
Most people have opinions. Some have informed opinions.
Most of what I've seen on here have uninformed or misinformed opinions.
The U.S. government hands out 1,000 grants every year worth 500 to 600 BILLION dollars.
I'm probably wasting my time on these lunkheads but how do you think our society and technology have advanced? Grants from the feds to the states to the cities to organizations to individuals.
I know it's hard for some to see the future and which ideas can come to fruition and lead to new discoveries. I'm no genius in any sense of the word but I like to think I have imagination and can 'see' the promise of new ideas and what they can achieve.
It's one thing to not understand how something may work, most inventors have had to deal with people like that in their quests.
But it's another thing to be ignorant and naysayers without even attempting to research the idea and TRY to understand it.
If everyone listened to people like that we would still be burning torches as street lights and reading by candlelight.
A lot of people have trouble with change, myself included. But at least keep an open mind and inform yourself before opening your mouths and removing all doubt of your ignorance.
Post a Comment